It’s a year since Ariana Grande’s concert at the Manchester Arena. The UK was rocked when 22 year-old Salman Abedi blew himself up in the building’s foyer, as concert-goers left the arena.
22 people were killed in the bomb blast, and more than 800, many of them children, were physically or psychologically injured. The youngest to die was just eight years old.
Grande herself, although not hurt, was devastated and her manager said she cried for days. Scooter Braun said he and the singer met 19 families who had lost loved ones, which was the “hardest two hours of either of our lives”.
Ariana was traumatised after the attack but decided to do a tribute concert, and was joined by other stars to perform at One Love Manchester to raise funds for those affected by the tragedy. More than 50,000 attended the concert, which included from Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber.
Today Ms Grande took to Twitter to pay tribute to the victims, tweeting:
https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/998788066629300224
In an article for the Manchester Evening News, Prime Minister Theresa May said: “The targeting of the young and innocent as they enjoyed a carefree night out in the Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017 was an act of sickening cowardice.
“It was designed to strike at the heart of our values and our way of life in one of our most vibrant cities, with the aim of breaking our resolve and dividing us. It failed.
“For such appalling acts of wickedness will do nothing but strengthen our resolve to defeat such twisted ideologies and beliefs.
“The resilience and determination shown by this city in the 12 months since is testament to that.”
Tonight (Tuesday), some of those who were at the concert will be performing as part of the Manchester Survivors’ Choir. They will join more than 3,000 singers from local choirs at Manchester Together – With One Voice, an event in the city’s Albert Square. Theresa May and Prince William will attend the memorial service at Manchester Cathedral.
The nation will hold a minute’s silence at 14:30 BST to remember those affected by the blast.
At 10.31pm, bells will ring out from the city’s Town Hall, St Ann’s Church and St Mary’s RC Church to mark the moment when the attack took place a year ago.
